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MAIMONIDES

“One only loves the Holy One blessed be He through the knowledge of Him. This love is commensurate to the knowledge. If the knowledge is little, the love will be little; and if the knowledge is great, the love will be great. Thus, it is imperative for a person to dedicate himself to understand and contemplate the wisdom and knowledge that inform him of his Creator.” (Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Teshuvah 10:6)

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On Divine Inspiration – Chapter 41

The fifth category constitutes those for whom the aspect of Yechidah illumines their souls. This is the aspect of the simple essential delight and desire which is beyond the intent and reason of the mind. This is similar to what was mentioned above regarding the fifth level of the natural soul, within which the essential excitement of the Yechidah of the Divine soul is invested.This accords with the statement of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, “I am unified in Him”.[1] About this the verse states, “You who adhere”[2] – meaning automatically, as explained above at length.

Now, though this level is so rare that it is not even found within “one of a city or two of a clan,”[3] nonetheless, because of a spark of illumination of the Yechidah in every Jew, a tiny revelation of it can occasionally come about during the above mentioned excitement of delight in G_d (called intellectual pleasure). This makes it possible for him to attain this essential simple delight that is totally beyond reason. However, it has no permanency within his soul. Rather, it is a momentary experience that immediately evaporates. This is because, due to the gross materiality of his body, he lacks the appropriate receptacle for this level of light.

There are a great many people who delude themselves in this matter, by imagining that they have easily attained this simple essential delight etc. Unfortunately, it is altogether useless to discuss these people, because they suffer from utterly vain imaginations brought on by hot bloodedness[4] and an essential flaw in the vessel of their mind known as, “falseness in essence” (a person who is deluded by nature). As known, there is no cure for this.

The ultimate ramification of this folly is that one becomes so given to delusions andfalse imaginations that he imagines his soul leaving his body (expiring), until he falls and cannot stand his body up etc. He may also behold frightening and awesome visions, all of which are hallucinatory. However, it is pointless to speak of such lunatics.

However, there is a condition commonly found even amongst men of understanding and knowledge who do not generally delude themselves. This occurs when a person becomes excited about G_dliness from the core of his heart in a way that is above reason and this emotional excitement of his heart then becomes confused with the simultaneous but tiny revelation of delight of the Yechidah, mentioned above. He can then imagine that he has truly attained the excitement of simple essential delight etc. The indicator for this is that it comes in a manner that is felt in the physical heart. He will therefore imagine that this must be what is written, “My flesh and my heart expire for You”[5]

However, a very great error is mixed into this. This is the fact that in almost all people, including him, the physical heart has an admixture of good and evil from the aspect of Nogah. This being the case, except if his heart has been fully cleansed of gross materiality, how is it possible that his heart is a ready vessel for this essential G_dly delight? Such a level is extremely rare and hardly ever found. Therefore, what he imagines it to be cannot be the absolute truth. Rather, there must be some admixture of error here (delusion).

However, from another angle, it is possible for a person to have a revelation of the simple essential delight as it is connected to the excitement of the heart, in actual complete truth. As known, there can be an excitement of the emotions of the physical heartthatisalso from the core of the heart, but in a way that is below reason, the root of which is above reason. This is the aspect of “a beast”, as scripture states, “I was a beast with You, but I am always with You”.[6]

Those who are knowledgeable in Chassidus tend to frown on this, but their eyes are too blind to see that here lays the above mentioned root of essential delight, free of all negative admixture. This is because it comes in an aspect of a truly innocent heart, as the verse states, “Be innocent”.[7] This innocence is specifically in the aspect of the Yechidah, which illumines the inner core of the heart. However, the true indicator and essential precondition for this is, specifically, that the excitement of his physical heart too must be innocent. That is, it must specifically be devoid of any self awareness.

By way of example, this may be compared to a person suffering terrible tortures. His heart of flesh will cry out spontaneously from the inner core of his heart and soul, literally reaching the very depth of the soul. Certainly, there is no disingenuous admixture here at all, but just a genuine cry, as it is in the Heyulie essence of his soul, literally.

The same is true of tremendous delight, which is the opposite type of feeling. For example, if someone is informed that his death sentence has been commuted and that his life is saved or the like, his physical heart will literally come to life with overpowering emotions from its essential source, similar to the scriptural statement, “And the spirit of Yaakov their father came to life”[8] from the news that Yosef still lived, because he loved him like himself.

Similarly, with a true Baal Teshuvah, it is possible for him to let out a spontaneous cry of tremendous bitterness over his past, from the depths of his physical heart: such a cry that literally touches the Yechidah level of his soul. An example of this is the case of Rabbi Eleazar ben Durdaya, whose soul expired through weeping. The opposite feeling is tremendous joy in HaShem.

From all these cases we observe that the vitality of physical joy or any other type of excitement mentioned above, reaches the essential joy or excitement in the Yechidah. This is the excitement of the physical heart as it exists below reason, as in the verse, “I was a beast etc.”[9]However, this is all with the precondition that it must specifically be in an aspect of “innocence”. Only then is it free of any self awareness. Then, the materiality of his body will not overshadow it. All this is well known in regard to the truly innocent, who are faithful to G-d, heart and soul, to the point that their soul expires without their even being aware of anything, in and of themselves.

Actually, this matter is more readily found amongst the simple folk, who are more capable of simple, unadulterated faith than men of understanding and wisdom who are more prone to over sophistication, which is the very opposite of simplicity. However, even amongst the simple folk, there are various different levels of authenticity. He who thoroughly contemplates this will discover all the above to be as clear as daylight etc. This is sufficient for those of understanding.